There is a feeling that I remember from when I was a kid playing video games: the huge, intense satisfaction when I finally beat a level or a boss I had been struggling with for a while. The feeling of learning how to overcome a challenge, with my brain and my thumbs. The combination of understanding and execution felt like a reward in itself.
I remember it from games like Super Punch Out, bosses from Metal Gear Solid, combat in God Hand. There are many games that gave me that feeling, but recently I’ve felt that games try too hard to be “user friendly.” Adaptive difficulty, dynamic checkpoints, in-game tips… Everything is explained and balanced to make sure nobody drops out.
'With Furi, we want to give the player an extreme satisfaction when he or she beats a boss. That means he or she will have to sweat a little for it.
Furi is heavily inspired by the Japanese way of making games. It’s not trying to be realistic in its style or animations. It’s fast-paced and requires a lot of timing, reflex, and judgment. When you press a button, the character reacts immediately. It’s part of what makes it “fair.” Too often in modern games, we press a button and then, in order to make the game look realistic, the character will start an animation that “looks good” but “feels heavy,” and is unresponsive, even laggy. Responsive controls feel good and are a must-have in a combat game.'